By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom” was among a collection of books in jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cell, according to details of his prison living conditions that the government submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Khan complained to the court last week that he was being kept in solitary confinement without access to his lawyers.
The government submission seen by Reuters contained a list of family and friends, lawyers and party members who have seen Khan since he was jailed in August last year.
The 71-year-old former cricket star was jailed on corruption charges and is also fighting dozens of other cases that he and his party say are politically motivated to thwart his return to power.
Details of his monthly visits kept in the jail register as well as pictures of the barracks were attached to the submission, and the government asked the court to appoint a judicial officer to verify the facts.
Khan’s party stood by its claim that he had been mistreated, and added that the pictures included were of the cell where Khan was being kept in solitary confinement.
“It is a contradiction to the claim that a former prime minister is entitled to an A class cell with an air-conditioned room & a helper to attend to the errands,” his party said in response to the submission.
The pictures in the government submission showed a messy bedroom with a study table, a chair, a single bed, a cooler, a washbasin next to a washroom in the corner, with a flat TV screen hung on a wall. It shows shirts thrown on the back of the chair and trousers, pants and a towel hung on a wall.
Another picture shows a long walkway with a barracks on both sides, describing it as an “exclusive gallery for walk, twice a day.” Another shows what it says is a separate kitchen with condiments, one more showed a collection of books on Islam, history and politics, and other pictures show a room with an exercise bike and fitness equipment.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Islamabad Bureau; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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